US: WTO complaint on EU poultry restrictions

The US has filed a WTO complaint challenging the EU's restrictions on US poultry treated to prevent contamination.

The US has filed a case with the World Trade Organization regarding the European Union's ban on the import and marketing of U.S. poultry processed with pathogen reduction treatments judged safe by both U.S. and European food safety authorities, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab announced.

"The poultry treatments at issue have been widely and safely used in the US for many years," said Schwab. "The EU's own scientists have repeatedly found these treatments not only to be safe, but effective. We have tried to address this issue through dialogue with the EU for more than 11 years, and neither the European Commission nor EU member states have offered any legitimate, science-based reason for continuing to block our poultry."

Since 1997 the EU has restricted virtually all US poultry on these grounds, and that talks have failed to solve the issue.